Suburban Catholic Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Suburban Catholic Conference is a system of Catholic schools organized to compete against each other athletically.

1 History
2 Multiplier
3 Member Schools
4 External links

[edit] History

Private schools originally banded together in the pre-Illinois High School Association era in order to offer competitive sports between them as the public school system (the IHSA) would not allow their inclusion. As Catholic schools gained a reputation, they were invited to join and compete against the bigger, more competitive public schools. The Catholic schools readily accepted.

[edit] Multiplier

In 2005, private schools claimed 5 of 8 state football titles in Illinois, despite the proportionally smaller number of schools. This prompted heated debates between coaches from both sides. Public school coaches argued that private schools could recruit their players with scholarships whereas the public school already offers free education and thus, no incentive.

Finally, the IHSA decided in order to "level the playing field", a multiplier of 1.65 to the student body of each private school would be applied. Obviously angered, most private schools were forced to play in a class level above their own. A 4A private school would play with 5A public school teams. Though debate is ongoing and talk of cessation again by the private schools exists, the rule stands for now.